Toronto to replace ‘frustrating’ sign-up system for recreation programs
Mayor says the current system is held together with "chewing gum and chicken wire."

thestar.com
March 8, 2016
By David Rider

When Hani Afrah tries to get her daughters into swim lessons, she lines up outside Regent Park Aquatic Centre as early as 2 a.m. After waiting five hours for seasonal registration to start, she says, city staff often say too bad, those programs are full.

“Other people are actually coming to our swimming pool and using it in front of us because they are privileged, they have a faster computer...we don’t have that luxury,” Afrah said after Mayor John Tory announced the city will replace the frustrating, outdated online, phone and in-person registration system with something better.

“I love swimming, our religion teaches kids exercise is good for them, they look forward to it...Imagine (how it is for) people who don’t know how to speak English, don’t know how to use a computer - it’s very frustrating.”

Afrah made her case to Tory after his announcement at the gleaming centre. He replied her concerns will be part of the review that will produce registration improvements by fall and a completely new system by the end of 2017.

Speaking about the city system, which processes 600,000 registrations per year for 80,000 programs and classes, the mayor said he gets a bigger earful only about transit issues.

“I’ve heard over and over again how incredibly frustrating it is, how people literally arrange their entire schedule for days to be sitting by a computer, sometimes having multiple people in the same house on different computers or going elsewhere to use computers, to keep hitting refresh,” Tory said.

The almost-20-year old system got periodic improvements with “chewing gum and chicken wire,” he joked, but now: “We’re getting a new system and it’s high time.”

Users faced with a full program should automatically be offered logical alternatives, Tory said. Wait lists for full lessons and camps will be generated automatically so city staff don’t have to phone thousands of registrants.

The city has appointed a director to lead the project plus outside experts - Paula Kwan, head of global expansion at Pivotal Labs, Alex Norman, general manager of TechTo, and Jeremy Bell, design chief at Precision Nutrition - to advise the city on short- and long-term improvements.

The new system must work with mobile devices, across other technology platforms and work directly with the city’s online “Fun Guide” program directory, Tory said.

Some cities are using a next generation of Toronto’s software, he added, but he will await expert advice and listen to public feedback that comes through the toronto.ca/haveyoursay website.

Councillor Pam McConnell, whose ward includes Regent Park, said Afrah’s complaint is well-founded.

Registration should be moved from early weekday mornings to Saturday afternoons or another time that is convenient for families, said McConnell. Tory’s lead on poverty-reduction issues including low-income “priority centres,” she said other steps can make the system fairer.

“If people don’t have access to computers or fast connections they end up at the back of the line or not in line at all,” she said.

“We should be looking at more accessible options to make sure the people the priority centres were built for are at the front of the line.”